Get On Their Radar: The Save-A-Buck App

EASY TO USE.
EASY TO MANAGE.
EASY TO NAVIGATE.
INSTANT GRATIFICATION.

There’s no arguing that today for any business to succeed they need to have a strong digital presence. The struggle for any business is in reaching a captive audience; traditionally this elusive goal is sought out with a big budget and many man hours. Wouldn’t it be great if magically, your business and the consumer could have their needs met both mutually and intuitively?

Well, that time has come. The magic wand is here.

Enter the Save-A-Buck App.

Recently a mobile app version of Rev Publishing’s widely popular Save-A-Buck coupon booklet was released. This free app, designed as a “city guide that saves you money along the way,” incorporating numerous features and is currently available in several cities throughout Niagara and presently expanding into other markets. On the radar for 2015 is Buffalo, Muskoka, Toronto, Kingston and 1000 Islands. This GPS based app includes an extensive category of listings that serves as a guide to everything there is to do in a city: restaurants, attractions, hotels, shops, bars, clubs and even special events. In keeping with the legacy of the Save-A-Buck booklet this app has corresponding coupons for each category.

Business by Today Magazine met with Justin Soungie, the Development Manager of the Save-A-Buck app, to chat about the app and what goes into it’s creation and development.

Today Magazine Business: Can you talk about how you came up with the idea for the Save-A-Buck app?Justin Soungie: The idea to bring the Save-A-Buck coupon booklet into a digital form was initially brought to the table by our CEO, Dan Pasco. He wanted to bring the already successful and widely used coupon booklet in the digital and fast paced direction that the market is going in today.

After discussing it a few times with our team, making it available not only digitally, but also in the convenient form of an app seemed like the most logical move with both iPhones and Android devices being a staple in today’s society. To make the app even more useful to our consumer base we wanted to build the ability to use coupons around a travel guide. Be everything a visitor needs to find their way during their stay, while offering them exclusive coupon discounts.

TMB: What kind of niche does it fill in Niagara?JS: People tend to rely on prior planning of their arrival to determine what they do and where they go, usually via digital search engines and forums, or their hotel staff. But there is so much more that is available, that may not be easy to find, but is very worthwhile to the tourist. We strive to fill that gap, be the city guide that puts the entire Niagara Region in the hands of our visitors.

TMB: How does the SAB app work?JS: The app first has you determine the city you would like to discover. Then it breaks the city into categories that allow you to choose what you are looking for based on the category that interests you. After finding your desired category you can view it by what is closest to your current location or see everything the category has to offer. You can also select the coupon feature, and your desired categories will now only show businesses that are offering coupons and discounts.

Each profile lists the hours, phone number, address, website, short description, and even will give your directions to the business. If you don’t want to go immediately you can save the business or event in your favorites for later.

TMB: What kind of work goes into the process of creating an app like this? Can you describe what the process is like?JS: It’s all about planning and having the right team. Before even getting to the first line of code many long months of planning are put in. It’s not about having a good idea, it’s about how the public will view and interact with it.

But it all grows from the one question, what do we want our app to do for people? We want to be the guide that every visitor can use, because before they got here they weren’t able to plan every detail of their stay. Where is somewhere great in this area to eat or where else can we take the family that wasn’t found right away when planning online? That’s the point of visiting somewhere new, you don’t know much about it. And I want Save-A-Buck to fill that gap to bring the visitor everywhere and to have access to everything.

After seeing what you want the app to do for the user, then the features just come naturally. Having access to directions in an easy place helps save time, hours are something that can make or break that drive you made with the family, or can be handy when trying to find somewhere close to your current location to buy yourself a new backpack because yours ripped while hiking.

TMB: What was the most challenging aspect of developing Save-A-Buck?JS: Testing, testing, and more testing. Even after having launched for the summer months this past year, we’ve discovered a lot more that we can add in to the app to really bring it to the next level for the app users. The challenge is to keep growing and adapting, and I’ve been back to the drawing board since September with new additions and things to make the app even better. In the next couple months, watch for our big changes to Save-A-Buck.

TMB: What kind of testing does an app like this go through to ensure that the end product is user friendly?JS: Getting a group of users who have never seen or heard of the app and installing the Beta version of the app on their device and just monitoring their natural interaction with the app over a set period of time. You really get to see what they focused on, get feedback on what they felt was missing or could have helped them better. Also a very important factor is different demographics; age, technical experience, and type of devices used.

TMB: What are some of your favourite features created for the app?JS: Direction on each profile that use your phone’s navigation feature, sending coupons directly to your phone based on how close you are to the business offering the coupon, and soon, in the new features added, the entire city you are visiting can be accessed from your phone without the use of cellular data.

Save-A-Buck is a great app to try out not only when you are visiting a new city, but also for discovering places you may not know about in the city you live in. You never know what restaurant, attraction or store will pop up on your phone. It’s a great app that puts you “in the know”, in whatever city you happen to be in, and not only that, it will save you money. It’s like having your own personal, penny-pinching tour guide. It’s only a couple of taps away!

The Save-A-Buck app can be downloaded for free from Google Play and the App Store. More information on Save-A-Buck can be found at saveabuck.com.

PUT YOURSELF IN THE HANDS OF TOURISTS & LOCAL CONSUMERS

The free GPS based guide that quickly allows you to search and find establishments. Save-A-Buck enables people to easily access entertainment, restaurants, attractions, nightlife, services and more. Promote your business and gain exposure while having the opportunity to offer coupons or promote your events to users.

Save-A-Buck is a free city-guide mobile application. Now available on iPhone® and Android™.

COMING SOON: GEOTRACKING.

We not only believe in keeping up with the lastest in advertising trends, but also pioneering and trekking into unchartered territory.

We are dedictated and excited to announce that we are in the final development of this next stage in GPS location tracking Beacon advertising.

The concept is simple.
We take the saying of driving traffic to you to a more literal level. Extending the ability of Beacon technology, you are able to customize and target your mesaege range by GPS location and coordinates. You no longer have to rely on proximity to be able to announce special events or coupons to your potential clients.

We make sure your message gets out to customers you want – when you want.

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Megan’s passion for the written word is only rivalled by her passion for travel – and as a closet foodie – an insatiable appetite for new cuisine. As the editor of Rev Publishing’s tourist and local magazines, every publication reflects this keen sense of taste, adventure and culture.